Book Critic
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Review: The Sisters of Versailles: A Novel (The Mistresses of Versailles Trilogy #1) by Sally Christie
Four sisters all sharing one king….really?! How does that happen? Well that’s exactly what I wanted to know and that’s why I picked up THE SISTERS OF VERSAILLES. King Louis XV tends to get skipped over in popular literature because there are just so many other King Louis’ that are way more memorable than him….but come on? Four sisters and you make them all your mistress? That sounds like memorable to me! After seven years of marriage, it’s becoming obvious that the King is growing tired of his wife. So naturally what do courtiers do? They desperately search for a new woman to warm his bed….preferably one that will help advance…
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Review: The Determined Heart: The Tale of Mary Shelley and Her Frankenstein by Antoinette May
Mary Shelley was the daughter of the iconic feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and her husband William Godwin. She has not had a normal childhood….she’s been exposed to all kinds of brilliant literary and philosophical figures. But she has also suffered tragedy, Mary never knew her mother. Her mother died shortly after giving birth to Mary, so the only family she has ever known was her half sister Fanny and her father. Well, Mary’s life is about to get more complicated and uncomfortable when her father remarries. William has only ever really loved one woman, Mary Wollstonecraft, so when he remarries his neighbor Mary Jane Clairmont she is pretty jealous of Wollstonecraft’s memory.…
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Review: The Mystery of the Lost Cezanne (Verlaque and Bonnet #5) by M. L. Longworth
This book combined three of my favorite things…..art, France, and mystery. Judge Antoine Verlaque is enjoying his life and work in the small town of Aix-en-Provence. Provence was once home to the art worlds most famous painters, Paul Cezanne. A friend in Judge Verlaque’s cigar club asks him to visit René Rouquet, a man who not only lives in Cezanne’s old apartment, but thinks he found a previously unknown Cezanne portrait. When the Judge and his friend arrive at Rouquet’s apartment, they are shocked to find him dead…..and the canvas is missing. After tracking down the canvas, the Judge and his girl friend Marine Bonnet, begin looking into the canvas’s authenticity. The woman in the portrait is clearly…
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Review: Paris Time Capsule by Ella Carey
Cat Jordan is about to get the surprise of her life when she opens a mysterious letter from Paris. Cat has been working as a photographer and basically lives a very bohemian lifestyle. She has a boyfriend, Christian, who she has been with for a while who is much different than she is…..his family is very wealthy and he is very traditional. Basically they are complete opposites but it seems to be working….ish. Well Cat finally decides to open the mysterious letter, only to find that she has inherited something…..from a woman she has never heard of! Side note, why can’t this sort of thing happen to me?! Cat calls…
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Review: Nerve by Dick Francis
Steeplechase is an equestrian sport that takes a very special kind of athlete. Jockeys have to be a little crazy, fearless, and sort of adrenaline junkies to enter into the sport. Rob Finn has that special combination of crazy and fearless….all he cares about is racing and winning. Literally nothing else matters to him. Finn is working his way up in the steeplechase world and basically has nerves of steel but he is always picked to ride second rate horses. Then the day comes where he is in the right place at the right time, a fellow jockey takes a spill and Finn is hired to ride in his place. But then Finn…
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Review: Lamb Black, Wolf Grey by Paula Brackston
Artist Laura Matthews and her husband Dan and decided to move to the Welsh countryside for a couple of reasons. They have enjoyed their lives in the city but for Laura, she hopes that living in the country will inspire not only her artwork, but also a baby. Dan and Laura have tried repeatedly for a baby and nothing has seemed to work. Laura hopes that the relaxed environment will help them achieve what they both desire, and she hopes that living there will help ease some of the other difficulties in their marriage. Dan on the other hand is not terribly excited about living in the remote area but…
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Review: Avelynn by Marissa Campbell
Avelynn, a Saxon noblewoman in 869, has enjoyed luxuries that most women of her time haven’t. Her father is a lord and allows her to attend gatherings and she eventually hopes to rule her lands….the last things she expects is for her father to marry her off. Her father has allowed her to have a say in her suitors but with the threat of a Viking invasion and growing tensions abroad, his patience is wearing thin with her being picky. Avelynn continues to reject just about every suitor that presents himself….her parents’ marriage was a love match so why shouldn’t her’s be one as well? Well, her father has tolerated just…
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Review: A Curious Beginning (Veronica Speedwell Mystery #1) by Deanna Raybourn
Veronica Speedwell is finally free from her spinster aunts! Not that she is rejoicing in their deaths or anything but she has longed to be free to travel the world in pursuit of butterflies and a few romantic liaisons. She is not just an amateur butterfly collector, but a scientist, lepidopterist, and lover of natural science in particular. When a mysterious German baron shows up on the day of her aunt’s funeral proclaiming that it is a matter of life and death that she come with him to London, she agrees but not because she is afraid for her life but because he promises a free ticket to London. When they…
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Review: The House of Hawthorne by Erika Robuck
Sophia is a talented artist and writer. Her well known Salem family has discouraged her from pursuing traditional women’s roles such as marriage, in favor of pursuing her creative and educational talents. Plagued by debilitating headaches, Sophia spends a lot of time in bed and her parents even send her to Cuban in hopes of curing her headaches. While she is in Cuba, she begins writing about some of the slavery she has witnessed in her journal, when she returns to Salem, Massachusetts she catches the eye of upcoming writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. From their first meeting, Nathaniel and Sophia begin an intense romantic relationship that despite many setbacks leads to their marriage.…
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Review: The Middle of Somewhere by Sonja Yoerg
Intense is about the only word I can use to describe this novel! This book is about one woman’s quest to find herself on the John Muir trail in the western U.S. for 18 day of backpacking. Liz Kroft’s 30th birthday is coming and she is literally heading for the hills. Liz, is in conflict over secrets she harbors and is suffering remorse over her past actions. Her emotional baggage weighs her down more than her backpack, but a three week trek promises the solitude she craves—at least until her inexperienced hiker boyfriend, Dante, decides to tag along. She is clearly less than happy about that situation. His broad moral streak makes…